FAYETTEVILLE -- Eric Musselman will try to become the first University of Arkansas basketball coach in 58 years to beat Georgia Tech when the Razorbacks take on the Yellow Jackets tonight at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta.
In the teams' first meeting on Dec. 30, 1961, the Razorbacks beat the Yellow Jackets 72-42 under Coach Glen Rose in the Poinsettia Classic in Greenville, S.C.
Since then, Arkansas has lost five in a row against Georgia Tech, including on the road during the 1964-65 and 1965-66 seasons under Rose; in 1984-85 in Honolulu under Eddie Sutton; and in 2015-16 in Brooklyn and last season at home under Mike Anderson.
Six returning Razorbacks played against Georgia Tech last season when the Yellow Jackets won 69-65 in Walton Arena.
Jimmy Whitt, a fifth-year senior graduate transfer from SMU, played for Arkansas as a freshman when Georgia Tech beat the Razorbacks 83-73 on Nov. 26, 2015, in the Barclays Center.
"We've got a little extra fire going in there to get a win," Whitt said.
"We're going to be locked in on the game plan trying to execute."
Tonight will be the first road game for the Razorbacks (5--0) under Musselman after they won their first five games at home by an average of 28.2 points.
"It's going to be a big-time challenge for sure as we all know any road game against a quality opponent will be," Musselman said. "It's the first time we've been on the road traveling together as a group.
"There's going to be a lot of newness starting when we get on the plane. How do we do meals on the road? It's a new staff, but it also gives us time to bond as well.
"You're with guys a lot more when you're on the road, and that'll be good for us as well."
Arkansas will be the second SEC team Georgia Tech (2-1) has played this season and third from a Power 5 conference.
The Yellow Jackets opened the season with an Atlantic Coast Conference game, winning 82-81 in overtime at North Carolina State.
After beating Elon 64-41 at home, Georgia Tech lost 82-78 at Georgia on Wednesday with 6-5 sophomore guard Michael Devoe having career-highs of 34 points and 10 rebounds.
Georgia Coach Tom Crean said he was impressed by the team Josh Pastner has put together in his fourth season at Georgia Tech.
"The bottom line is Georgia Tech is good," Crean said. "He's doing an excellent job with that team. This is the best team that he's had in his time there. They're deeper, they're shooting it so much better, they're improving, they're big."
The Yellow Jackets are strong inside with 6-10 senior James Banks and 6-9 junior Moses Wright.
Banks, who had 14 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocked shots against Arkansas last season, is averaging 11.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and a national-leading 5.7 blocked shots. Wright is averaging 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.
"They're really active at the four and five spots," said Musselman, whose big men are 6-6 senior starter Adrio Bailey and 6-8 sophomore Reggie Chaney off the bench. "We've got to play great post defense and we've got to rebound the ball.
"We're going to have to scrap around and do everything we can from a defensive rebounding standpoint."
Devoe is averaging 26.0 points to rank third nationally in scoring and lead all players from Power 5 teams.
"Right now he's playing as one of the better guards in the country," Pastner said. "And he's done it against good competition, too."
The Razorbacks lead the nation in three-point defense at 13.6 percent (11 of 81), rank second nationally in scoring defense (47.8 points) behind Virginia (47.2), are sixth in field goal defense (33.7%) and tied for 11th in turnovers forced (21.0).
"They're aggressive, they guard the ball at a high level," Pastner said. "They're great with their hands and closing out. They're in the passing lanes. They're very well taught.
"The way they're playing defense is very similar to how Virginia or Texas Tech guard teams. Arkansas is right in that same league as one of the best defensive teams in the country."
The Razorbacks' three-point shooting fell to 26.5% (30 of 113) after they went 4 of 20 in beating South Dakota 77-56 on Friday night.
"If we go 4 of 20 against Georgia Tech, we're probably not going to win the game," Musselman said. "So we've got to make a few threes at a higher clip than we have.
"We've to defend at a high level and we've got to rebound the basketball to win against anybody on the road."
Sports on 11/25/2019